Fantastic Beasts
by tripchick
Summary: The paranoid ministry puts all the magical beasts into a village. Hermione, very confused, is there tagged as a Sphinx. She is sharing a run-down mansion with Lupin, Hagrid and Lee Jordan. Ensue wild plots to escape and inevitable romance! HR
1. Beast Inprisonment

_**The Daily Prophet**_

_Late last night Minister Rufus Scrimgeour's publicist released a new statement regarding plans for action on control over magical creatures and beasts throughout England, proving himself, once more, a firm and trust-worthy leader as he responded to the cries of the magical population._

_"As many know," he roared to a crowd of ten thousand strong supporters, "magical beasts have for long been avid supporters of You-Know-Who! It is time we take action against the most ignored aspect of His superstructure! I am now calling for the grouping and tagging of all beasts, and to keep them in one place where they can do no harm to the wizarding community. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am suggesting a coop to prevent the union of magical beasts and the Dark Lord! No exceptions will be made for any beast. They should each in turn be treated with the same amount of suspicion and mistrust as Death Eaters. This is a time for change." The speech was greeted with raucous cheers…_

* * *

When things go horridly horribly wrong, many people will blame it on fluke and accident. Hermione Granger begs to differ- one either does something right, or they do it incorrectly, and Hermione just realized she must have done something _very_ wrong (though she was still unsure how). Not even a moment ago Hermione had been crouched over a fat volume on the absolutely _captivating_ history of the use of beetle eyes in transformation and mind-addling potions, but when she raised her head to rest her eyes she found herself sitting in a plush and tattered crimson armchair across from a rickety desk decorated with a teetering pile of sheets and important looking coffee-stained documents. Blinking, she turned her head towards the soft clicking of an opening door.

"Hum, Miss Granger," a clipped tenor voice sighed. Hermione's bottom leapt out of her seat at the unexpected voice behind her. "Right on schedule, I see…"

An ancient snotty looking witch with a fat head that seemed to be attached to her small torso with absolutely no sign of a neck waltzed into the room and imperiously took the seat across from her. Her thick black hair was in a chin-length bob that reminded Hermione horribly of Pansy Parkinson. Seeming impervious to Hermione's incredulity, she peered down her long nose at her. "Do you fancy a cup of tea?"

Staring at the stout woman, all Hermione seemed to be capable of was to merely ogle the woman for a couple moments. "No, thank you," Hermione finally managed to force out, blinking at her confusedly. Still unable to stop staring at the unfamiliar woman, Hermione said, "Er- not to be rude, but who are you?"

"I am Madam Plott, and I will be your guidance witch for the duration of your stay at the Magical Beasts coop. Now," she began shuffling through the stack of papers on her desk, muttering to herself. "Hermione Granger…" she mumbled, scratching a mole on her chin thoughtfully, completely oblivious to the utterly befuddled witch sitting across from her. "Ah- yes, Hermione Granger, born September 18, 1980 at precisely one o' four in the morning, seventh year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, excellent transcripts-"

"Pardon me," Hermione interrupted primly. Madam Plott shot her an irritated look over the yellowing papers. "Where am I?"

"Must I repeat myself?" The woman snapped.

"Just one more time, if you will," Hermione said testily.

Sighing, Madam Plott said, "You're at the Magical Beasts coop."

"And," Hermione said, "why am I here?"

Looking thoroughly exasperated, Madam Plott said impatiently, "Well, you _are_ a magical beast, aren't you?"

Hermione stared at the woman, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, utterly bewildered at the words that had just come out of the other woman's mouth. "A magical beast?" She suddenly scoffed. "I should certainly hope not-"

"You are Hermione Granger, correct?" Madam Plott barked.

"Well, yes, but I am _no_ magical beast-"

The other woman snapped her head downwards to peer at the documents in her leathery hands, and scanned her beady black eyes over it impatiently. Suddenly, comprehension dawning on her features (_At least_, Hermione through wryly, _someone knew what was going on_), Madam Plott said in an unexpectedly maternal voice (despite her ceaselessly cold eyes), "Oh, you don't know, poor thing… unregistered too- we'll have to take care of that. I think I'll schedule a registration meeting for tomorrow afternoon with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Madam Plott tapped her nose thoughtfully, and finished reading the paper. "I'm not sure if I should be the one informing you this, Hermione, but it's such an important matter…"

"I'm terribly sorry, Madam Plott, but I'm quite certain I would notice if I were a magical beast." Hermione said as patiently as she could to the clearly delusional woman.

"Well," she said, letting out a slight bark of laughter. "I would be surprised if you did."

Hermione, feeling as though this was a direct attack at her intelligence, said indignantly, "I'm certain I would notice-"

"No, no," Madam Plott said impatiently, "you don't understand- you're only a descendent of one, so it's near impossible to tell at your earliest developing stages."

"Well then," Hermione said edgily, irritated that this meeting was a complete waste of time when she could still be reading that wonderful book on beetle eyes. "Then if I'm not really a magical beast, what am I doing here?"

Shaking her head exasperatedly, Madam Plott acted as though she were speaking with someone very daft. "Being a descendent of a magical beast is enough to classify you as a beast, Hermione. Unfortunately that's exactly what you are- you may have the manifestation of a being, but if you are goaded enough you could have dangerous reactions… yes, it says here you have indeed inherited many traits and abilities of the Sphinx that will most certainly rear up during the next few months- including quite the temper… I'm afraid that you are indeed a beast Miss Granger."

"A Sphinx?" Hermione demanded sharply. "Well, that's absolutely ludicrous…"

* * *

_A native to Egypt, the Sphinx is a beast with the ability of human speech. This particular beast has the head of a human and the body of a lion, and has a love for puzzles and riddles. However the Sphinx has violent tendencies and if a riddle is answered incorrectly it will strike the witch or wizard who had the idiocy to voice the incorrect answer. The Sphinx is often used by wizarding folk to guard treasures…_

* * *

"Not quite," Madam Plott said, looking at Hermione thoughtfully.

"What?" Hermione snapped. "Do you see me killing people if they get something wrong on a bit of homework?"

Ignoring this comment, Madam Plott said, "As you grow older you will quickly develop characteristics increasingly more like a Sphinx; in character and physical apparel alike. I imagine your stay here at the coop will accelerate this development. You even look like your ancestor, you know. A most remarkable resemblance…" she said thoughtfully. Hermione glared at the other woman heatedly. What sort of hoax was this, anyway?

"What- I have a tail?" Hermione snapped sarcastically.

Ignoring her, Madam Plott ruffled through Hermione's file and pulled out a dog-eared photo of a fierce looking Sphinx who was pacing back and forth and sneered out of the constraints of the photograph at her. She looked exactly like Hermione (save for the lion's body), from the bushy mane, to the small nose, high cheekbones, prominent forehead and sharp gleam in her narrowed eyes…

* * *

_"Cripes Hermione!" Ron shouted excitedly from where he was sitting as he read a book on magical creatures for Care of Magical Creatures. "Look at this picture! You look exactly like this Sphinx, 'Mione- the one who killed the most muggles-"_

_"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "You're so rude."_

_Harry inched over to look at the picture in the book Ron was holding, and shot a grin at Hermione. "He's right, you know…"_

* * *

"Suppose I am a Sphinx," Hermione said slowly as she stared bewilderdly at the photograph, hardly daring to believe it. "What am I doing here, anyway? I didn't know they had a coop for Magical creatures. I just thought they had to be registered; isn't this a bit... barbaric?"

Madam Plott looked sad all of a sudden. "Well, it's just been opened this summer. The new Minister for Magic insisted on it- it's not secret You-Know-Who has an affinity for taking dark creatures onto his side- oh, not that I think you're likely to be in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Hermione!" she added at the scandalized look on Hermione's face. "But the minister insists that no exceptions are made. But I promise that I'll make your stay as comfortable as possible- do you trust me, Hermione?" Hermione didn't, actually, but she didn't say so.

"Exactly how long will I have to stay here?" Hermione asked, feeling defeated as she realized she would not be able to escape her current predicament for the time-being.

"Until You-Know-Who falls from power, I'm afraid," she said sympathetically.

Eyes widening in horror, Hermione said suddenly, "But what about my schooling? How I be able to finish my transition into a healthy, competent witch-"

"There are some skilled inhabitants of the community that will be able to teach school-age beasts-"

"I'm not a beast!" Hermione suddenly bristled, desperatly holding onto the edges of the armchair she was seated in.

_And what about Harry?!_ Hermione's brain shrieked manically and desperately, her vision blurring at the corners. Had she not given her word to him to help him through possibly the most important months of his life as he continued to find the remaining Horcruxes? She couldn't leave that up to Ron, she had to find her way out of this, she had to help with the most important pursuit of the twentieth century, there was no way she could be out of control like this…

"Of course not, dear," Madam Plott said absently, interrupting her thoughts. "At any rate I have a six o'clock appointment, so I'll get Ogg to show you to your shared living quarters-"

"I have to share living quarters with a beast?" Hermione asked faintly.

Madam Plott nodded the affirmative, standing up to her full height of four feet. "Well, of course- there is hardly enough room for everyone- you'll be sharing quarters with three others- I believe you have met them if you are a student at Hogwarts, so it shouldn't be a problem…"

"Not a problem?" Hermione asked wildly, her voice cracking. "I'm not even a beast!"

"Miss Granger," Madam Plott said firmly, her patience seemingly faltering as she narrowed her eyes. "You are part Sphinx, and therefore I-"

"But what about my family? My friends?" she asked hysterically. _What about Harry?_

"Letters will be sent to them," she said briskly, standing up from her seat.

"But- but- what about-"

"That's all being taken care of," she said, pulling Hermione to her feet. "I will be sending someone to your home tomorrow morning to collect your belongings…"

"I don't understand!" Hermione wailed.

And as Madam Plott pushed her out of the small office into a dark corridor beyond where a large troll-like man with a square shaped head and long stiff limbs was waiting and slammed the door in her face, Hermione burst into tears, still as confused about her entire predicament as she was when she had arrived there seven minutes ago.

* * *

A/N: Review ya'll!


	2. Village of the Doomed

**_Village of the Doomed_** **__**

* * *

The first thing she was going to do the next time she saw Madam Plott was strangle her. Hermione had been walking-jogging behind Ogg for the past half-hour, the yellowing building that they had emerged from a mere dot in the distance.  
  
It took what seemed to be ages before they reached what appeared to be a magically confined area. The magic was so thick that Hermione could _see_ the red glow as they approached the confines, and felt a powerful lurch and shiver when she passed the threshold, and then... suddenly bare. It was most unnerving, but, making sure she was still dressed and not _physically_ bare, Hermione continued walking-jogging, although more cautiously. The surroundings were immediately drowned in darkness, and the light was no more as the general milieu took on a more grave ambiance.  
__  
_Village of the Doomed_, the sign warned, barely readable past the chipped and worn wood. Hermione let out an involununtary shiver; the name of the coop certainly didn't do much in reassuring her already nervous (and rather insane) thoughts.  
  
It was a relief though, that the coop was not really a cage, Hermione noted, panting as she tried keep up with Ogg's long legged strides. It had more of the appearance of a perpetually dark and abandoned old-fashioned village, with lofty victorian mansions that evoked strange almost animal sensations in the depths of her stomach that was sinister and (although she was rather reluctant in admitting it to herself)... _sexy_. Indeed, amidst the exquisite eighteenth century decor aged with ill-treatment, dimly lit streets, frightening shadows flickering along the tall walls, towering hollow trees and spooky, twisted, nightmarish music trickling out of some of the tall homes introduced a sensation alike the vampire horror movies she used to watch as a child that made Hermione feel positively _sinful_.  
  
Feeling slightly uncomfortable at this revelation, Hermione quickened her pace behind Ogg, who proved to be the worst company possible. All he seemed to be able to do was point and grunt. She was beginning to strongly suspect that he was part troll (a distant relative of Crabbe and Goyle no doubt), as he lumbered along stupidly. Although, Hermione noticed, he seemed to be able to navigate around the village perfectly well with a general idea where he was headed. _That _was a relief.  
  
There were many beasts lurking in alleys and terrifying whispers everywhere she turned, causing the hair on her arms and back of her neck to stand on end. Shrieking pixies, restrained hellhounds, winged horses tramping about, veiled hags, giggling wood nymphs...  
  
She desperatley wished there was sunlight, though Hermione had long past figured out that if vampires and other shadow-loving beasts were going to be staying there it was going to be dark for a _very_ long time. It took all her willpower not to run screaming like a lunatic in the opposite direction everytime a vampire stared at her exposed neck hungrily, or when hooded, bent figures brushed past her, or when that ragged breathing in the darkened alleyway snarled menacingly, the only visible thing its bright crimson eyes _staring_... It was quite unnerving. Sadly, this only managed to make Hermione feel angry that these _things _could make her loose her usual cool.  
  
Ogg had led her to the outskirts of the village bordering a formidable forest that suggested even worse mosters within its depths than the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He pointed to the last crumbling manor (Number 9 Elm Street) in the long row of mansions, grunted ominously, and roughly ushered her towards the tall, peeling double doors before turning around and going on his own way.  
  
Taking this as a crude signal that this was her living quarters, Hermione practically ran past the unkempt hedges, down the stone pathway, up the tottering front steps and into the falling apart mansion in fear that if she was left unaccompanied for much longer she'd most certainly be eaten alive by something or another.  
  
Wrenching the double doors open without bothering to knock and see if there was anyone inside, Hermione stumbled in and slammed the doors behind her before turning round, panting, and taking in the dimly lit main entrance. It resembled a ballroom with its vast space, high cieling, spider-webbed chandelier and dirtied marble floors that she was sure had once been kept and magnificent. There were high, grimy cathedral windows that stretched to the cieling with heavy velvet curtains, and Hermione vaguely wondered why they needed windows if there was no light outside in the first place. At the end of the ballroom was a wide staircase that led to a landing and then spread into two seperate winding stairs.  
  
It was haunting almost, although very beautiful, Hermione decided, taking a few steps and displacing a layer of dust which became airborne and tickled her nose, sending a thick cloud of it into the air.  
  
"_Erm- _Hello?" Hermione called uncertainly into the hollow room, unsure whether the other inhabitants that Madam Plott had mentioned were there.  
  
Her croaky voice merely echoed.  
  
She began to cautiously make her way to the rickety stairwell, unsure what to do, but was immediately stopped by a low, vaugely familiar growl snarling menacingly, "Don' move another step. Turn 'round and identify who yeh are."  
  
Hermione paused in horror, sure her worst fear of being murdered by some frightening monster would be fully realized on her first night there. Heart catching in her throat, Hermione turned slowly on her heel to face the owner of the threatening voice.  
  
There was a gigantic man silhouetted in the doorway, his wild near-black hair and full beard giving him a slightly crazed look, and he was brandishing a tattered and very familiar pink umbrella- it was a most dramatic vision.  
  
Hermione screamed, and immediately ran up to the half-giant before he could react, flinging her arms around his middle. "_Hagrid_!" She shrieked. "I'm so glad you're here- I've never been so terrified in my life, I thought for sure I was going to die-"  
  
He looked absolutely bewildered. "'ermione, is tha' you?"  
  
"Of _course_ it's me, Hagrid!" Hermione sobbed maniacally into his moleskin coat.  
  
"What'er yeh doin' ere?" Hagrid demanded, pulling Hermione off him for a moment, looking at her confusedly. "This is no place fer a sixteen year ol' girl!"  
  
Hermione sniffled. "One moment I'm doing my summer's potions homework, and the next moment I'm sitting in this awful office that smelled of goats, tagged as part Sphinx and given housing arrangements by this absolutely horrid woman-"  
  
Hagrid positively choked on his own tongue. "_Sphinx?_"  
  
Nodding grimly, Hermione wiped her eyes on the back of her hands. "Can you believe it, Hagrid?"  
  
"There's some sorta mistake!" he said firmly. "Bu', I'm sure tha' Remus'll be glad ter see yeh..."  
  
"Professor Lupin's here, too?" Hermione asked hopefully, hiccuping slightly.  
  
"I believe he is," replied a different, most aristocratic voice from the wide staircase. Hermione spun around at the sound of her previous professor's voice. "But please, no need for formalities, Hermione, I thought we had gotten past that already..." he grinned at her, although slightly tiredly.  
  
Remus Lupin was looking positively exhausted as usual, with his thin, pale face, wispy graying hair, and faintly mischievous smile. Her stomach lurched in happiness at his recognizable slim frame, and ran to greet him with a hug.  
  
"Pr- _Remus_, it's so good to see you!" Hermione looked utterly relieved at seeing that she would be under the protection of two Order members. "You have no idea how _relieved_ I am to see you..."  
  
Chuckling, Remus said, "And you have no idea how _confused _I am to see _you_, Hermione."  
  
"An' outrage, it is," Hagrid roared. "Sendin' 'ogwarts students ter this place..."  
  
Furrowing his eyebrows, Remus said, "Indeed. I believe this calls for a sort of house meeting, I'm afriad. There are certain things that-"  
  
"Can't- Lee ain't back yet," Hagrid grunted.  
  
"Lee Jordan, you mean?" Hermione asked. Hagrid nodded. "Why on earth is _he_ here?"  
  
Remus laughed. "I should be asking the same of you, Hermione."  
  
"It's not a very long story," Hermione said. "Although rather confusing."  
  
"Alright then," He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her towards the stairs. "Come- we'll have a cup of tea and you can tell me all about it..." he looked at Hagrid with a raised eyebrow. "Are you coming, Hagrid?"  
  
Grunting tiredly, Hagrid said, "Naw, still gotta fin' Lee. He's still ou' at those parties them vampires are always 'aving..."  
  
Remus shook his head. "Good luck, Hagrid- you know that he'll only show himself to you when he feels like it... bloody vampires."  
  
Hagrid scowled distractedly, and lumbered out of the door. "Still- got ter try..."  
  
Shaking his head, Remus said. "Come back in half-an-hour if he still doesn't reveal himself to you. I think being invisible is his favorite power..."  
  
Stumbling along after Remus up the staircase, Hermione asked confusedly, "Lee is a vampire?"  
  
Pulling her past the landing, up the spiraling staircase to the right and down a hallway, he opened a scratched door with peeling paint, ushered her in all the while saying, "I'll tell you all about that later. But first, Hermione, tell me how exactly did you end up in the magical beasts co-op- as far as I was aware, you are _not_ a magical beast..."  
  
"Please, sir," Hermione said, "I really don't understand- why is the Ministry grouping all the magical beasts together? Madam Plott said it was because Dark Creatures are traditionally allies of the Dark side, but not all beasts- like the Unicorn and the Centaur-"  
  
"Yes, I quite agree, but there are sadly Unicorns and Centaurs living in the neighboring forest at this point. The merepeople have it worse; they've been caught and put in tanks at the Ministry..."  
  
"That's disgusting!" Hermione gasped. "But they're not even allies with-"  
  
"It is not so much that we're known to be allies of Voldemort," Remus said, "Rather than old wizarding prejudices. Beast have always been regarded with general disdain, and Octavio Starr, the new minister, is no different. This course of action... will gain him much needed popularity, I'm afraid," he sighed. "But there are certain... aspects that confuse me as well. But we'll get to that tomorrow morning when Lee arrives."  
  
Hermione stared at him. "How can you tell between night and day?"  
  
"You can't really," Remus agreed. "Mostly guesswork, actually. In fact, it could be mid-afternoon right now and I wouldn't know..." he shook his head in disgust. "The amount of magic surrounding this place! Magic to create darkness, magic to keep magical creatures within its borders, magic to strip us of our powers once we cross..."  
  
"It strips us of our powers?" Hermione asked, alarmed.  
  
Remus shook his head. "Not all of them. Just the powers we, as witch and wizard, harness with a wand- afriad we'll try to undo the charms surrounding the village."  
  
"That's odd," Hermione said, confusedly. "Madam Plott told me I'd be able to continue with my magical education here..."  
  
Barking out a short laugh, Remus said, "She forgot to mention that you'll only be doing the theoretical side of magic, did she?"  
  
Hermione scowled. "Fantastic- it'll be like fifth year DADA all over again..."  
  
"Don't worry," he said amusedly. "Defense against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures will be _very _interesting this year if we don't manage to find a way to get out of here beforehand."

"You mean... escape?" Hermione squeaked. "But _how_?"  
  
"Not entirely sure, actually," Remus sighed. "The confines are ridiculously powerful. One poor fellow werewolf attempted just walking out of the confines, and he was sent catapulting all the way across the village. He's still unconscious, poor fellow, with tentacles growing out all over his body. The Ministry refuses to do anything, so he's at a neighbor's house, and needs to be drenched in water every half-hour to keep him from suffocating..."  
  
Hermione could only stare at him in horror.  
  
"Now, please, have a seat..."Hermione sat down in one of the chairs in the large study, and Remus poured her a cup of tea, took out several biscuits and pushed them across the desk towards her.  
  
"Thank you, Remus," she croaked.  
  
"Sugar or milk?" he asked.  
  
"No thank you," Hermione said, taking the cup and saucer into her hands.  
  
He smiled kindly at her and said, "I'm terribly sorry if the tea's a bit cold- anyway, Hermione, you have yet to tell me of your misadventures of how you come to be here."  
  
She immediately launched into her rather short tale of confusion and obvious misunderstanding, and Remus proved to be a good audience, tittering and commenting in all the right places. "And next thing I knew," Hermione said miserably. "I was being shoved out of the room into a dark hallway with a man who resembled a troll."  
  
Remus sighed. "What an awful way to find out of your condition. Perhaps, if the Ministry comes to their senses, you may be allowed to be let on a little reprieve..."  
  
She laughed dryly at this. "I doubt it. I've already asked Madam Plott, but she merely said something about all beasts being treated equally. Meaning no reprieve for me, unfortunately."  
  
"Shame," Remus said. "You'd think conditions would have gotten better with Fudge out of office."  
  
Hermione nodded. "What on Earth does he have against beasts for him to do something so drastic?"  
  
"A question we are all asking," he said. "And one that has yet to be answered. In time, though..."  
  
There was silence as they sipped their tea thoughtfully, eyeing eachother over their cups.  
  
"Are there... giants here?" Hermione asked nervously. "I mean, obviously Hagrid, but-"  
  
He shook his head sadly. "Voldemort has already a hold of them, unfortunately, and they're very well hidden."  
  
"But if they can make me appear from my room to half-way across the country-"  
  
"Voldemort's magic," Remus said, "is much to advanced for such a spell to break through his much more powerful brand of magic."  
  
"And Dementors... has V-Voldemort gotten a hold of them as well?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"We have a lot of things that we must tell you, Hermione," he sighed. "Knowledge about the Underworld that is magically barred to those who are not beasts. But that will have to wait until tomorrow, Miss Granger."  
  
"Hermione, please," she said, smiling slightly as she mimicked his favorite line. "No need for such formalities, Remus..."  
  
"Right you are," Remus agreed, sipping some of his tea. "Now, any more questions before we retire?"  
  
Nodding, Hermione asked, "Now, what is all this about Lee being a Vampire? I'm quite certain he isn't- standing in the sunlight commentating all those quidditch matches is hardly vampiric tendencies..."  
  
Shaking his head sadly, Remus said, "No, Lee was bitten just after his graduation, I'm afraid- an unfortunate bar incident."  
  
"Oh, poor Lee," Hermione said sadly. "He must be a wreck."  
  
Remus laughed loudly. "Hardly, Hermione. He's too busy attending those lavish parties vampires have than to bother wallowing in self-pity. Although I'm unsure if it has quite sunk in yet that he will have to spend the rest of his life wandering Earth for all eternity, not quite living, but never dying. It's a horrid way to live..."  
  
"Mm," Hermione hummed in agreement, looking down at her cup of tea idly.  
  
"You must be exhausted from the excitement of the day," Remus said, standing up from his chair. "I'll show you to a room- come on..."  
  
He beckoned Hermione to follow him, and walked out of the study and down the narrow hallway. "This is a very nice place," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around at the hanging chandeliers sinister paintings that didn't move. "It is a bit spooky, though."  
  
"Yes," Remus said. "It used to be a vampire dominated village in the eighteenth century- they're are right at home, I tell you..."  
  
"Are there many?" Hermione yawned.  
  
They had come to the end of a hallway, and turned down another passage. "About two hundred have been grouped already," he said. "And fourty-three werewolves."  
  
"And they all live here?" she asked in wonder. "That's an absurd amount!"  
  
He laughed. "You wouldn't believe how many vampires can live in one of these mansion; they're sepereated into three clans."  
  
"Is Lee in one?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Naturally," Remus said. "He's automatically initiated into the clan of the vampire that made him who he is."  
  
"Are there vampire brawls, then?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"No, they get along relatively well. It's usually vampires and werewolves that traditionally don't get along."  
  
"Oh. Then why is Lee living here? Shouldn't he live with his own clan?"  
  
"He can't until he's completely initiated into the clan; some secret ceremony or another..."  
  
Hermione nodded.  
  
Remus pushed open a door, and said, "This will do, I believe."  
  
Stepping past the door, Hermione's eyes widened at the giagantic bedroom. It had a black and crimson velvet canopy bed in one corner, a long vanity table with intricate designs etched onto it and littered with bottles and pots of beauty supplements that must have been centuries old. There were tall windows obscured with the heavy velvet drapes she had seen in the ballroom earlier, a long leather sofa and a full-length mirror covered in dust and spiderwebs in one corner of the room. The room positively exploded with Victorian allure and Hermione felt the same shiver of sexiness she had experienced earlier that was so unfamiliar to her.  
  
"Vampires always prided themselves in style," Remus said, grinning.  
  
"I can tell," Hermione said, walking in.  
  
Backing out of the room, Remus said softly, "Good night, Hermione."  
  
"Goodnight, Prof- Remus," she yawned, falling back onto the bed. Hermione didn't even have time to crawl under the sheets, as she fell into a dreamless slumber as soon as she shut her eyes, unawares of the click of the closing door as Remus exited, or of the shrieks of Banshees on the street below, or the growls of unseen creatures in the narrow alleyways...

* * *

**A/N: **Crap, I know I focused a lot on the Vampires, but... whatever, it's my story. :p Thanks to my lovely reviewers (I had no idea this was going to be so popular- now I'm terrified of disappointing)- **Luna-Tunafish, Lady Cantara, mac1, lady-anna-bee, Rose101, Remusgrl01, fuzzfurry, freespirit65, Brigd13, Niyuluna, Little Witch, Lee Davies, Dracula5555, Ed, the Giant Racoon, jeangray666, Dragon Blade5, MORE!, Luna-Lovegood200, voldie's girl, Joots, Tooki, angelus cado and Time and Fate.** Thanks, everyone! Review if you'd like to see more...


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